Slovak matters
Slovak matters is a column devoted to helping ex-pats and foreigners understand the beautiful but difficult Slovak language.
The real smile of Slovakia
When impaling yourself on the orchestra is a good thing.
I understand, really
Smile and nod responses make you seem fluent...until it backfires.
A tasty fistful of words
Throwing a handful of words into the soup pot.
Let it swim
Leave your cares on the shores of the Slovak sea.
Light the Slovak fire
Opekačkas are a quintessential Slovak summer experience, despite burns, mosquitos, and smoke.
Don’t get the wolf!
Fresh air, wet hikes, and a mystery illness.
Don’t you want to?
Regarding terrible Slovak phrases that may please you.
From ‘You’re a champ’ to ‘You saved my life’: A Slovak guide to saying something nice
Compliments can take you a long way in life.
Music in the veins
What to say when someone is bossy or blabs everything, inspired by music.
Kidnapping and virginity: brace yourself for a Slovak wedding
Some of the more traditional wedding rituals seem shocking today.
Dialects: You say potatoes, I say grule...or švábky?
Around Košice, asking for a pipka will get you a pipe but elsewhere might get you a smack.
You say nazdar, I say dovi
From ships to Latin, Slovak's greeting vocabulary is rich and broad.
How to get out of a conversation in a hurry
You might be jammed, whistling, or falling, preferably without a parachute.
Slovak romance: What to say when flirting, dating, or dumping
In Slovakia, you don’t just flirt – you "hook" (zháčiť) or "pack" (zbaliť). Here’s the slang you need to play the game – or decode it.
A Spanish bird made of beef
If you get hangry, you probably feel like a wolf when hungry.
Strong as a beech, thin as a poplar
Trees provide a rich background for all kinds of Slovak sayings.
Honey on the tongue, poison in the heart
Hopefully powerful politicians learn that the handle will eventually fall off the water jug.
What to make of mak
What to do when you don't like a beloved Slovak ingredient?
Slovník is its own reward
Reading the dictionary is also funny.
Mikuláš or the Devil: Were you obedient?
In Slovakia, Mikuláš isn't just a jolly old fellow.
- Nine years in Slovakia: Why I stayed Audio
- Brezno: a hidden alpine gem poised to become the ‘Slovak Semmering’ Photo
- Last Week: A new man arrives to oversee the propagandists and disinformers
- Things to do in Brezno: mountains, trails and a town on the rise Photo
- From Ikea to U. S. Steel: These companies reported Slovakia’s biggest losses
- Kofola craze bubbles up in Asia thanks to determined content creators
- Wizz Air’s biggest-ever Slovak expansion takes off
- Kvetnica spa
- Brezno: a hidden alpine gem poised to become the ‘Slovak Semmering’ Photo
- Last Week: A new man arrives to oversee the propagandists and disinformers
- Things to do in Brezno: mountains, trails and a town on the rise Photo
- Nine years in Slovakia: Why I stayed Audio
- Wizz Air’s biggest-ever Slovak expansion takes off
- Kofola craze bubbles up in Asia thanks to determined content creators
- Kvetnica spa
- News digest: Former prime minister is plotting a “coup”
- Wizz Air’s biggest-ever Slovak expansion takes off
- Brezno: a hidden alpine gem poised to become the ‘Slovak Semmering’ Photo
- Things to do in Brezno: mountains, trails and a town on the rise Photo
- Kofola craze bubbles up in Asia thanks to determined content creators
- Nine years in Slovakia: Why I stayed Audio
- Last Week: A new man arrives to oversee the propagandists and disinformers
- News digest: Former prime minister is plotting a “coup”
- News digest: Move over, politicians — US stars just sold Slovakia better Video
- Wizz Air’s biggest-ever Slovak expansion takes off
- Brezno: a hidden alpine gem poised to become the ‘Slovak Semmering’ Photo
- News digest: Move over, politicians — US stars just sold Slovakia better Video
- Things to do in Brezno: mountains, trails and a town on the rise Photo
- Dozens injured in train crash in southeastern Slovakia Photo
- Kofola craze bubbles up in Asia thanks to determined content creators
- Unexpected journey leads Slovak curator to Vienna’s Belvedere Palace
- Nine years in Slovakia: Why I stayed Audio
- From Ikea to U. S. Steel: These companies reported Slovakia’s biggest losses
- Last Week: A new man arrives to oversee the propagandists and disinformers
- They erased his books. Not his voice.
- News digest: Former prime minister is plotting a “coup”
- Nine years in Slovakia: Why I stayed Audio
- Russia’s Bratchikov leaves, another Kremlin propagandist arrives
- Fico and Svyrydenko toast to ‘just peace’ in Ukraine during Slovak–Ukrainian talks
- PM Fico’s party expelled from Europe’s socialists after long rift More articles ›